I know exactly what it feels like to toss and turn all night long, with thoughts of what needs to get done racing through my head, while I lay there anticipating that it won’t be long until the alarm begins buzzing with the dreadful reminder that another day is beginning.

As I crawl out of bed and stumble downstairs to grab a cup of coffee, I begin to feel my blood pressure rise with the stress of the day upon me, but no time for that worry, I must get the kids up.

After I wake the five kids and rush them off to school, the madness continues. Pushing through pure exhaustion, I manage to get done just a portion of the tasks on my to do list for the day and before I know it, the family is back home and it is time to give them the last few ounces of energy that I can find within my mind and body, all the while, not really being present with them, just being physically there, while my mind continues to race through all that is yet to be completed. Should I therefore be taking CortiTrax supplements to give me more energy throughout the day?

After feeding the masses dinner and ensuring all the homework is done, I manage to get the kids down to bed and the kitchen cleaned up before crashing down in exhaustion. The best part is, tomorrow I get to do it all over again…

I’m certain that many of you reading this can relate to these feelings of stress, anxiety, and exhaustion. You have such great intentions of getting it all done, being the perfect parent and spouse and running a successful, global business that is changing the lives of others.

Yet, as hard as you try, you just can not seem to reach your lofty goals, nor find the energy to do any more than you are doing now.

The good news is that there is an answer!

You see, I no longer suffer from these feelings. After a complete breakdown in my health, years ago, from living like this, I was determined to find another way to live. I knew there had to be more to life than living on repeat each and every day.

This is the basis of how Craig and Jenny D was born, to bring these tools to the world, that change lives each and every day so that you can be more, do more, and have more!

How we start our morning sets the stage for the entire day! To get started on your journey to more, let’s start with the basics which is our 5 Steps to Amplify Your Energy, Reduce Your Stress, and Maximize Your Productivity.

Step 1: Drink Water

As soon as you roll out of bed in the morning, the best thing you can do for your body is to drink 15 – 20 ounces of plain, clean water or, if you prefer, you can add fresh lemon to it.

Our body has been on a mission overnight to clean up our insides as much as possible, because it does not have to worry about other tasks like digestion that use its energy.

After all of this detoxification, you need this water to rehydrate you and flush the toxins out of your body.

Once you consume this water, you want to wait a minimum of 15 – 30 minutes to consume anything else. Let your body absorb the clean, fresh water and do its work with that before you flood it with other substances, such as coffee, tea, or food.

(On a side note, you should have 12 hours between your last meal at night and your first meal in the morning, to allow proper detoxification to occur during the night).

Step 2: 5-Minute Mindset Meditation

One of the most important things we can do for stress reduction is to quiet the mind. Every single one of us has more on our to do list than we can ever accomplish, so we need to find a better way to prioritize so that we are not feeling overwhelmed.

The most effective tool is to sit or lay quietly for 5 minutes immediately after you wake up and drink your water, with your palms facing upward and push all the rushing thoughts out of your mind.

Your focus should be on asking to be shown your priorities for the day to accomplish your goals. There will be thoughts that come in very clearly leading you to specific tasks. Those are your priorities for that day, and you put everything else aside and ask for it to be taken care of.

Oftentimes, many of the other tasks will become unnecessary, or you will discover new ways to get them handled or delegate them that take it off of your to do list.

This time can also be used for affirmations if you choose to do so. In this case, you pick one or two affirmations that apply to you and repeat them in your head for the 5 minutes, pushing all other thoughts aside. Some of my favorite are:

I believe in myself and others.

My life is a perfect example of synchronicity and flow.

Things are always working out for me.

I am healthy and strong in mind and body.

I accomplish everything I need to do in my day.

I am constantly being shown the direction that will lead me to my goals.

You can also repeat this entire process anytime throughout your day that you feel overwhelmed, frustrated, or stressed.

Step 3: Get Moving

Maximum productivity starts right here!

You must find a type of movement that you enjoy that you will do for 15-20 minutes minimum every day after your 5-minute mindset work. It is critical to move your body in the morning to get the blood flowing to your muscles and to your brain.

Movement is the most powerful way to amplify your energy, boost focus, reduce stress, and improve your mood. When you do this you can begin working productively right away each day.

Without this it takes time to get energized and focused and often we are sleep-walking through our day until mid-morning. This adds up to huge losses in productivity.

If you are performing at reduced productivity levels or losing 2 – 3 hours each day as you try and wake up in the morning, that has detrimental effects over time on your business and your personal life.

You can use movement throughout the rest of the day as well. If you are feeling sluggish, then get up, walk around, do some stretches, and get outside if you can for fresh air. This will be a much greater, more effective energy boost than artificial stimulation through caffeine or sugar.

The bonus to moving in the morning is that since you haven’t eaten in 12 hours, your body has not produced insulin. That means that instead of using the glucose from the food you ate for fuel, if you workout intensely for these 15-20 minutes, you will use the stored fat in your body for fuel, helping you reach and maintain ideal body weight.

Step 4: Drink Your Breakfast

There is good reason that smoothies, juices, and shakes have become so popular in the morning. Liquid breakfast requires significantly less energy for our body to digest than solid food. We have to be cautious about what liquid breakfast we choose.

The best option is a vegan protein shake made with unsweetened nut or seed milk, with greens added to it for additional nutrition. This combination will give your body all the fuel that it needs without creating an inflammatory response, using more energy.

It is best to stay away from whey, which is very inflammatory, as well as fruit juices and added sugars. Sugar, from fruit or not, is very inflammatory in our body and should be minimized! I could go on and on here about sugar, but for the purposes of this blog, just know that all sugar is damaging to our body and should be minimized.

If you choose to have fruit for breakfast, you should have it by itself and consume it 15 – 30 minutes before other food, allowing it to leave the stomach before you add other foods.

Step 5: Compartmentalize

Starting from the moment you wake, you should compartmentalize in your mind with every task. This will allow you to be fully present, engaged, and focused on each specific action and will maximize your productivity and results.

Think of your mind as a filing cabinet. You have a drawer for your business, kids, spouse, self, friends, family, and so on. Only one drawer on the cabinet can be open at any given time. This means when you are working, you are solely focused on work, and when other thoughts pop into your mind, you push them back into their drawer and shut it.

After work you put those files away in your mind, shut the drawer, and pull out the next drawer to which you are going to attend.

One of the challenges that many people face is that they don’t feel fulfilled in life. Part of this is because they are never fully present in anything they are doing.

In business they think about family; during family time, they think about what needs to be done in business. When they are enjoying time with their partner, they are talking about the business or the kids. You can see how this can spiral out of control, and you never fully engage in any activity to feel fulfilled by it.

Think about this: how can your rejuvenate your mind and body on vacation if you are thinking about what needs to be done for work the whole time? You can’t! You will come home more stressed out than before you left, because you didn’t relax, and now your have more to do in less time.

This vicious cycle is often part of every day, and we must focus on changing this pattern to make every day more productive and fulfilling.

In order to be more, do more, and have more, it all starts with the systems that we have in our life that respect our body and mind. When you have the right steps in place you will amplify your energy, reduce your stress, and maximize your productivity.

At Craig and Jenny D, we strive to make that simple for our clients. We have created a one-stop shop where you can get your 5-minute meditation with daily affirmations, 15 – 20-minute movement routines that can be done anywhere, and additional nutrition and mindset training to fuel your sustainable systems of wellness.

Jennifer Dumnich guides her clients to discover just how great their body and mind are designed to feel, so that they can amplify their results personally and professionally. Jenny provides practical and purposeful strategies that result in clients achieving maximum energy, focus, and productivity by creating customized, sustainable wellness systems through personalized coaching, wellness consulting, corporate development training, and motivational keynotes.

I’ve been using Garden of Life meal replacement to drink my breakfast, and also sort of as my ‘daily multivitamin’ because it has all of the good stuff and no filler junk (I’m allergic to most multivitamins), having all those vitamins and good stuff in the morning has really helped my energy a lot.